UPDATE SATURDAY MORNING: Denise Thiem's family has released a statement. See their full message at the end of this story.

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Originally published 7:35 p.m. Friday, September 11, 2015:

After months of silence in the search for a missing Litchfield Park woman, a flurry of police activity in Spain ended with the arrest of a man suspected in her disappearance and the unsettling discovery of a body on the man’s property.

Denise Thiem, 41, went missing in April while hiking the Camino de Santiago, a popular trek that leads to a cathedral in Spain’s northwestern corner. Her disappearance launched a massive search effort — and increasing agony for Thiem's family and friends. For five months, the case seemed to stagnate, producing more questions than answers.

Several outlets reported the arrested man had told police he knew the location of Thiem’s body. El Pais, a major national newspaper in Spain, reported late Friday that police had found a badly decomposed body on the arrested man's property, but that officials had not identified it. Police also were testing biological matter discovered on a saw found at the same property, according to El Pais.

The Spanish National Police did not respond to an inquiry from The Republic and azcentral on Friday.

Thiem, who grew up in Arizona and attended Xavier College Preparatory, had traveled widely in the past. She lived with her parents and brother in Litchfield Park and had worked at PetSmart's corporate headquarters in north Phoenix before leaving her job for a round-the-world trip that would culminate in a hike on the Camino.

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Tens of thousands of people walk various routes to Santiago de Compostela annually. Some do it as a spiritual quest; to complete the Camino is to end at the cathedral believed to house the remains of the apostle St. James. Others go for a physical challenge or a holiday. The hike was made more popular after release of "The Way," a 2010 film starring Martin Sheen that follows his character's soul-searching walk to Santiago after the death of his son.

Thiem had started her journey in Pamplona in March, planning to reach Santiago in about a month and a half. Instead, in the first week of April, she vanished from the trail. Thiem was last seen on April 5 — Easter Sunday — in the town of Astorga. Her disappearance prompted safety concerns about the series of pilgrimage routes, though Spanish tourism officials have continued to say the Camino is safe for foreign travelers.

The U.S. Embassy in Madrid declined comment about the arrest, the AP reported, citing privacy laws that prevent the disclosure of information about the case. A U.S. State Department representative told The Republic on Friday that they did not have any additional comments on the Thiem case and would defer to the local authorities regarding any developments.

Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, who also was familiar with the case, said in an e-mail statement that her office shared the Thiem family's frustration about the "lack of information and cooperation from various government entities."

"The family of Denise P. Thiem wishes to acknowledge the professionalism, skill and dedication of the Spanish National Police that led to the actions taken yesterday. They also wish to thank the Spanish people for their many prayers and heartfelt expressions of hope and concern during this long, painful ordeal of not knowing what happened to Denise. Finally, the family hopes that the body which the police recovered on September 11, 2015 can be identified quickly, and, if it is their beloved Denise, returned to the United States without delay so they and her friends can honor her life and conduct a proper and reverent burial."

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Denise Thiem disappeared Easter Sunday while hiking in Spain. On Sept. 11, police arrested Miguel Angel Munoz in her disappearance. Two weeks later, DNA confirmed a body found on his property was Denise Thiem's. Thiem Family

Denise Thiem was last known to be in Astorga more than halfway through completing the Camino de Santiago, a popular trek through northern Spain that would have taken her about a month to finish. The pilgrimage was supposed to be the end cap to a five-month, round-the-world journey that took Thiem through Singapore, the Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam, France and Spain. Thiem Family